English Language AS Coursework

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Introduction

"The War On Emo" The word 'emo' has undergone some radical changes over the past few decades. Once a term meaning 'emotional hardcore music,' stemmed from the underground punk scene in 1980's America, it has now evolved into a name associated with self-harming for an entire culture of teens donning black clothes and Chuck Taylor converse. How has a once positive expression for a new genre of music developed into an insulting label for anyone wearing a little more eyeliner than is usually necessary? It could be argued that the manipulation of emo from the music media industry has led to this change, and unfortunately it has become the inspiration and focus of some fact less and biased articles in tabloid newspapers. An "EMO cult warning for parents," the worrying title of the somewhat controversial and entirely prejudiced article featured in the Daily Mail which, for one thing, lacks any so called 'warning.' It also appears to want to corner all pale faced, black haired teens, and brand them with a red hot poker bearing the words 'self-harmer.' After all they'd probably enjoy it. So what exactly is an emo? ...read more.

Middle

Granted, there are some teens who do discuss their injuries with others on the internet, but Ms. Sands seems to have wrongly assumed that all teens whose wardrobe consists solely of black are self-harmers. This is best shown by a young girl who I spoke to recently. She shows all the classic characteristics of your stereotypical emo; the black straightened hair, the fringe covering one heavily mascara-ed eye, the absence of anything closely resembling colour, and of course those crucial converse. However, there are no knife scars marking her arms, and she appears quite content. She tells me she is happy, has never even considered self-harming and her 'emo' dress sense seems to be more linked to fashion than depression. This would seem to contradict Sand's ideas of self-harming teens, that being that they are all emo. I am not suggesting that there are no people who dress according to the 'emo' fashion who do not self-harm, I am simply saying that it is unreasonable to assume that all self-harmers are emo. It seems 'emo fashion' and self-injuring teenagers have unfortunately been lumped together into one miserable category, and caused misinformed journalists to launch attacks on both kinds of teens. ...read more.

Conclusion

However, people generally associate emos as being self-injurers, which of course in some cases is true, but not all. Regrettably, Sarah Sands article has only helped to fuel this misinterpretation. On the one hand, there are websites dedicated to discussing self-injury, and yes, some teenagers do use these sites, however, it is incredibly discriminatory to imply that all 'emos' do so. Emo as a fashion has been promoted among clothes retailers, but that does not mean that the industry encourages teens to self-harm. The emo fashion and people who suffer from depression are two separate entities, yet they have become linked, forcing people to associate one with the other. A biased and unfounded attack on a group of teenagers, who more than likely resort to being, what most people would call an 'emo' in order to find an outlet for their aggravation, does not help matters. If these people really are self-harming, shouldn't we be finding ways to help rather than backing them into a corner? Instead of launching unsupported assaults on the 'outsiders,' we should be attempting to give them the help and support they need. If their self-harming really is a cry for help, then we cannot turn our backs and ignore them when they need us most. Word Count: 1228 English Language Coursework- Persuasive Argument 1 ...read more.

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